Spring Break: Family, Friends, and the O-So-Lovely Beach

Now that I am married, I am learning the art of trading off holidays from my family to Taylor's and back again. Holidays were always really special in my house, so I wondered how being married would change things. Thankfully, my husband's family has welcomed me in from day one and both Thanksgiving and Easter with them were wonderful. I feel right at home and I really wish both our families could celebrate together.

Sunrise over Lake Junaluska

Pastor Edward preaching before sunrise.

In our "Sunday best" for sunrise :p

One cool thing this year, was that we were able to spend Easter Sunday with Taylor's family, and since Taylor had Spring break the week after, we were also able to go see my family at the beach the next day. Sunday though, we had a beautiful sunrise church service at Lake Junaluska, and then went to breakfast before going to our normal Sunday worship as well. I think I had about four cups of coffee by noon...ooops ;)

My grandmother-in-law's gorgeous garden

My sister-in-law gave me this plant and I put it in an old coffee tin.
I love how it turned out! Sorry for the blurry photo though.

After church, we headed over to Taylor's parent's house and had very yummy lunch with my in-laws, Taylor's grandmother, brother, brother's wife, their kids, and their friends. I really enjoy his family and am glad that their gatherings are close-knit like my family gatherings have always been.

The next morning, we headed out on our journey towards Ocean Isle Beach. I cannot tell you how excited I was to see my family, friends, and get my white self out to the beach! It had been far too long!

Snickers the Labrador 

Trigger the man-goat ;)

It was exciting to see mama's farm when we got to their house. It is continuously growing and she probably has between 70-100 chickens by now, along with two goats, some guineas, ducks, and piglets. I'm really excited for her and she does a great job with her animals. I am proud of all her hard work!

We spent the evening playing Mario Kart 8 with my brother and hanging out with my parents. My mom cooked a delicious meal. It was the most tender, melt in your mouth pork-roast you could ever have, with rice cooked in the roast's juices, and green beans. Taylor and I ate enough to feed the United States Army!

Unfortunately I felt horrible all day Tuesday. I think the pollen was so bad down there that my allergies just hit really hard, but I was miserable. We will skip that day. There was a lot of laying around and moaning...

Wednesday was our "Easter" meal with my family. Beforehand, Taylor and I went to the beach. It was perfect. It wasn't too hot, but I never got cold. The sun was bright and it wasn't overly windy. I was so glad to stick my toes into the water and lay out on the sandy beach.

Easter lunch was awesome. I had some quality time with my grandparents, as well as my parents, brother, Uncle, his new bride (yay!), and their kids. Taylor and I ate a lot again- of course ;)

I am so thankful for my family and that we were able to have this time with them. They are such a joy to have in my life and I am seriously blessed. And I am equally thankful that Taylor gets to share all this with me from now on. God has blessed me immeasurably!

Thursday was dubbed as "friend-day". Two of my four best friends from high school still live in the area so I try to make sure I get to see them when we are visiting. We started the day with me, mama, and Gracie having coffee together. Because coffee is important. Duh.

Around lunch time, my brother (Jason), Taylor and my friend Elise went to Wing and Fish Company. Afterwards, we dropped Jason off at home and headed over to Grace's pottery studio to surprise her. We ended up painting pottery together. I painted a dog bowl for Molly. I am so excited for Grace to mail it to me after she gets the glaze on it and everything.

Elise, Taylor and I went to the beach for a couple of hours after that. The weather was perfect again! I cannot believe my luck with the weather this trip. It was incredible! Elise's boyfriend came for a little hit and we hit the volleyball around before we headed out.

The next day was spent playing more Mario Kart and spending time with my parents, grandparents, and brother. It was a really nice, chill day. Oh, and we did go for a walk on the beach with my brother and dad, too! It was the first time in around eight years that my daddy had gone to the beach and I was really glad we all went. Thank you to Taylor, Jason, and daddy (all of whom are not huge beach lovers) for being good sports and indulging my beach-love!

Saturday morning was bittersweet. It was time to leave which is always sad, but we were excited to sleep in our own bed and see our fur-babies. Before we headed out I had coffee with mama and then I also had coffee with Meredith, who had just come in town the night before. It was so good to see her. I've missed all of my friends and family a lot.

But, reality eventually sets in and eventually Taylor had to get back to work. I love where we live, but I wish the beach and the mountains were smushed together into one big city. That way our family and most of our friends, and our two favorite places in the world would all be right at our finger-tips.....oh, my wishful thinking *sigh*

What did you do for Spring break? Do you have any traveling coming up soon? Comment below.

And happy Saturday!